Following the conclusion of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2023-24, the cricketing action now shifts to the white-ball List A competition, the Pakistan Cup, which is poised to begin on Wednesday, 1st November.
Matches will take place at four venues located in Abbottabad, Rawalpindi, and Mirpur. The Pakistan Cup, spanning 31 matches, will feature games with 45 overs per side.
This edition of the Pakistan Cup departs from the previous domestic structure, aligning with the revived 2014 PCB Constitution. It will comprise eight teams: Faisalabad Region, FATA Region, Karachi Region Whites, Lahore Region Blues, Lahore Region Whites, Multan Region, Peshawar Region, and Rawalpindi Region.
In the opening fixtures, Lahore Whites will face Lahore Blues at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Peshawar will take on Karachi Whites at Mirpur Cricket Stadium in AJK, Faisalabad will challenge Multan at Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, and FATA will go up against Rawalpindi at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
The tournament will employ a round-robin format, with each team encountering the others once. Subsequently, the top four teams will progress to the semi-finals. The first semi-final will see the No.1 team facing the No.4 team on November 16, and the second semi-final, featuring the second and third-placed teams in the points table, will take place on November 17. The final showdown is scheduled for November 19, with all knockout matches taking place at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
In the previous Pakistan Cup 2022-23 final, Central Punjab secured a 50-run victory over Balochistan at State Bank Stadium, Karachi. Balochistan's all-rounder, Amad Butt, emerged as the player of the tournament, boasting 365 runs and 19 wickets. Central Punjab's Tayyab Tahir and Usama Mir clinched the titles of highest run-scorer and leading wicket-taker, respectively.
Hanif Mohammad Cup 2023-24
Concurrently, the one-day Hanif Mohammad Cup is scheduled to commence on November 1, hosted at four venues in Faisalabad, Multan, and Rahim Yar Khan. Similar to the non first-class Hanif Mohammad Trophy, the ten participating teams are divided into two groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super Four stage.
The team leading the Super Four stage will be declared the winner of the Hanif Mohammad Cup. Teams participating in the Hanif Mohammad Trophy include the Abbottabad Region, AJK Region, Bahawalpur Region, Hyderabad Region, Islamabad Region, Karachi Region Blues, Larkana Region, Dera Murad Jamali Region, Sialkot Region, and Quetta Region.